Ordered by median federal debt at graduation — smallest loan first, with what graduates go on to earn beside it. The typical graded US university clears its debt in 1.3 years on median earnings of $57,089 against $22,500 of debt.
| # | University | Grade | You borrow | Monthly | You earn | Debt clears in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 691 | College of Saint Benedict | C | $26,944 | $306 | $63,260 | 1.1 yrs |
| 692 | Robert Morris University | C | $26,950 | $306 | $62,105 | 1.2 yrs |
| 693 | Woodbury University | C | $26,960 | $307 | $65,668 | 1 yrs |
| 694 | Winthrop University | F | $26,975 | $307 | $47,185 | 3.5 yrs |
| 695 | Central College | D | $26,984 | $307 | $54,317 | 1.8 yrs |
| 696 | Barry University | C | $26,997 | $307 | $55,966 | 1.6 yrs |
| 697 | Gettysburg College | B | $26,999 | $307 | $71,517 | 0.8 yrs |
| 698 | Stevens Institute of Technology | A | $27,000 | $307 | $108,772 | 0.4 yrs |
| 699 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | A | $27,000 | $307 | $103,470 | 0.4 yrs |
| 700 | Kettering University Michigan | A | $27,000 | $307 | $94,823 | 0.5 yrs |
| 701 | Bucknell University | A | $27,000 | $307 | $93,807 | 0.5 yrs |
| 702 | College of the Holy Cross | A | $27,000 | $307 | $90,543 | 0.5 yrs |
| 703 | Milwaukee School of Engineering | A | $27,000 | $307 | $89,070 | 0.5 yrs |
| 704 | Providence College | A | $27,000 | $307 | $87,054 | 0.6 yrs |
| 705 | Dominican University of California California | B | $27,000 | $307 | $84,713 | 0.6 yrs |
| 706 | Ohio Northern University | B | $27,000 | $307 | $80,928 | 0.7 yrs |
| 707 | DigiPen Institute of Technology | B | $27,000 | $307 | $79,878 | 0.7 yrs |
| 708 | University of Scranton | B | $27,000 | $307 | $74,652 | 0.8 yrs |
| 709 | Ursinus College Pennsylvania | B | $27,000 | $307 | $73,721 | 0.8 yrs |
| 710 | Saint Anselm College | B | $27,000 | $307 | $73,371 | 0.8 yrs |
| 711 | South Dakota School of Mines and Technology | B | $27,000 | $307 | $72,257 | 0.8 yrs |
| 712 | Widener University Pennsylvania | B | $27,000 | $307 | $70,920 | 0.9 yrs |
| 713 | Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois | B | $27,000 | $307 | $70,871 | 0.9 yrs |
| 714 | DePauw University | B | $27,000 | $307 | $70,527 | 0.9 yrs |
| 715 | Wabash College | B | $27,000 | $307 | $69,952 | 0.9 yrs |
| 716 | Lawrence Technological University | B | $27,000 | $307 | $69,151 | 0.9 yrs |
| 717 | Hobart and William Smith Colleges | B | $27,000 | $307 | $68,831 | 0.9 yrs |
| 718 | Emmanuel College | B | $27,000 | $307 | $68,245 | 0.9 yrs |
| 719 | Washington & Jefferson College | B | $27,000 | $307 | $67,918 | 1 yrs |
| 720 | St. Lawrence University | C | $27,000 | $307 | $67,258 | 1 yrs |
A university can leave students with little debt because it is genuinely affordable — strong institutional aid, low in-state tuition — or because so few of its students borrow that the median falls to a handful of cases. The earnings column beside it is what separates the two.
It counts federal loans only. Private loans, credit cards and parent borrowing sit outside the dataset, so a family that financed college another way appears here as low debt.
Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard. Figures cover students who received federal financial aid and blend every subject at each institution. Information only, not financial advice.